MANILA: Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday (Nov 14) expressed skepticism over the current administration’s claim that the country’s economy can recover by the fourth quarter of 2025, calling whoever came up with the plan to be “out of their mind.”
Duterte made the pronouncement after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr recently declared that the government intends to recover the economic losses the country sustained during the third quarter of 2025 through increased public spending.
In a chance interview on the sidelines of the Office of the Vice President’s 90th anniversary celebration in Makati Shangri-La, Duterte laughed off Marcos’ plans.
“Daydreaming wide awake! Whoever says the economy can recover by the fourth quarter of this year is literally daydreaming,” Duterte told reporters.
“They must be out of their mind,” she said.
The vice president observed that these developments are primarily due to investors’ loss of confidence in the country and the lack of incoming investments.
She made these comments after the Philippines recorded its slowest economic growth since 2021 at only 4 per cent during the third quarter of 2025 — much lower than the Marcos administration’s target of 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
